Whole pork bellies come from the side of the hog and are commonly used to make bacon strips. Pork belly trim and belly pieces come from trimming whole pork bellies and are typically irregular in size and in shape. Pork belly trim and belly pieces are commonly used to make sausage, bacon bits, and bacon topping. The term “bellies” is used herein to refer to whole bellies, belly trim, and belly pieces. The term “bacon pieces” is used herein to refer to bacon strips, bacon bits, and bacon topping.
Federal regulation defines the weight and the yield of bacon products. For uncooked bacon products, cured bellies must have a weight not exceeding the weight of uncured bellies, which is commonly referred to as “green weight”. For fully cooked bacon products, cured bellies must have a yield of not more than 40% of the weight of uncured bellies, in other words 60% shrinkage from the green weight of uncured bellies.
Commonly, cure ingredients are injected into bellies with injection needles to create cured bellies, and the cure ingredients must be in solution to prevent clogging of the injection needles. The term “in solution” is used herein to refer to a substantially homogeneous mixture created by a process by which a solid, liquid, or gaseous substance is substantially homogeneously mixed with a liquid. Should the injection needles become clogged, there will be an uneven distribution of the cure ingredients in the bellies.
Most cured bellies are cured using a cure ingredients solution, which comprises dry cure ingredients in a water solution. The cure ingredients solution contains 60 to 70% water by weight of the cure ingredients solution. The bellies are injected with the cure ingredients solution at levels of 8 to 13% by weight of the bellies so that the injected bellies contain 5 to 9% water by weight of the injected bellies, which adds to the weight of the bellies. To reduce the weight of the injected bellies, to return the injected bellies to their green weight, the injected bellies are commonly cooked slowly in a smokehouse. Cooking the injected bellies in a smokehouse cooks off the water, leaving the cure ingredients behind, and also adds a smoke flavor to the cured bellies.
For fully cooked bacon products, additional weight reduction is necessary after cooking in a smokehouse. To comply with federal regulation, fully cooked bacon products must have a yield of 40% or less to be considered fully cooked. The cured bellies are further cooked using a microwave oven, a conveyor belt having a heat conductive surface, a conveyor belt passing through one or more cooking chambers, or other suitable cooking devices well known in the art to get fully cooked bacon products to 40% yield or less.